Taiko is a heart stopper, one of these restaurant where you wonder if you will wake up alive the next day. Well, I did and let me tell you about my favourite yakiniku joint located in Soja city, just outside of Kurashiki.

La vie en Café is located in a very odd little building behind the Okayama City Symphonic Orchestra. If you spend enough time in Japan, you quickly realize that there is not many old buildings in Japanese cities. This building seem to be clinging to another age among a sea of new constructions since it survived the bombing of Okayama. (Okayama castle which is about 5 min away was severely damaged)

French food in Japan, French restaurant in the middle of nowhere on the ever busy route 2, why not?

I’ve driven in front of Chez Petit Lis a couple of time without even considering stopping there, it’s located between Fukuyama and Kurashiki on route 2. I’ll be honest, I had a difficult time imagining that a French restaurant could do business among the ramen and udon shop, but I guess I was proven wrong.

There is a special place in my heart for food served on a stick: corn dogs, lollipops or perfectly grilled yakitori, it’s just a great and easy way to put food into your mouth. So it pretty obvious that I had to try kushiage on my last visit to Osaka.

Kushiage or Kushikatsu is a speciality of Osaka. The idea is simple: impale some food on a bamboo stick, dip it in batter, deep fry it very carefully and serve it burning hot . It’s the perfect bar food!

Have you ever been away from home for a very long time? I’ve now been away from Montreal since late July 2008 and I’ve noticed that what I miss the most from back home is food. Maple syrup, smoked meat and poutine seem to be part of my DNA.

I have walked in front of this discreet coffee shop on numerous occasions without really noticing it. Kurashiki Coffee-Kan is located right in the heart of the historic Bikan area of Kurashiki city in Okayama Prefecture. I think I might have found my little coffee heaven only 20 min from my house.